Chapter 53 Part 1

The window was closed.

Deep into the night, the temperature dropped slightly, and the room felt cool and refreshing.

To avoid pressing on her wound, Mu Qian Tan lay on her side on the rattan bed. Before her eyes was the bluish wall under the hazy moonlight, with shadows from the latticed window cast upon it. A faint lingering fragrance remained in the air, like drowsy sleepiness.

After a trip through the Trial Field, both her body and mind were utterly exhausted. She had thought she would fall asleep as soon as her head hit the pillow, but after lying there for a while, that floating, drifting sleepiness refused to settle, leaving her half-dreaming, half-awake.

The reason was probably that another person was sleeping under the bed, which made her unaccustomed.

How had there ended up being an extra person?

Just moments ago, while standing by the window, they had chatted about all sorts of random things—what exactly, she couldn’t quite remember in her haze—but after a few more words, somehow she had agreed to let that Brain-Damaged Dragon come in and sleep.

Although she was lying on the ground and quite quiet, and Mu Qian Tan wouldn’t see her with her eyes closed, it shouldn’t have affected anything in theory.

But before transmigrating, for a long time, she had lived alone, slept alone, stayed alone, and even after coming to this world, she had always rested by herself. So psychologically, it was hard to ignore the fact that there was now another person in the room.

Maybe she should just kick her out.

With no guilt at all over breaking her word or being fickle, Mu Qian Tan turned over, propped herself up on her elbow, leaned over the edge of the bed, and looked down, ready to wake her and send her away.

Sensing the movement on the bed, a pair of eyes bright enough to shine radiantly in the darkness looked up. “Master, you haven’t slept yet.”

Shang Shan held a luminous pearl in both hands, bringing it close to her face, and smiled. “Rest easy. I’m watching it for you! No one’s sending a rescue signal.”

Mu Qian Tan then remembered. Right, that was the reason.

Her injury had left her mentally drained. If she slept too deeply or too long and missed monitoring, overlooking a disciple’s cry for help, it would be a mess to deal with the fallout later. But she couldn’t stay awake either, so she had no choice but to ask someone else to help keep watch.

With no one else around, she could only agree to let the Brain-Damaged Dragon stay, having her keep an eye on the Heavenly Eye Spirit Pearl at all times and wake her if anything happened.

Recalling this, Mu Qian Tan fell silent and quietly lay back down.

After a moment, a warm face drew close to the edge of the bed. “Master, why aren’t you sleeping?”

The faint spiritual light from the Heavenly Eye Spirit Pearl shone up from below onto her face, turning the perfectly fine features of a young girl into the smile of a malevolent ghost. Mu Qian Tan spread her five fingers and pressed them onto that face, pushing down harder. “Lie down properly.”

“Oh.” Shang Shan slid back with the force but didn’t move her face away. Once the hand withdrew, she licked her lips, hugged the spirit pearl, and lay down. “Can’t you sleep?”

Mu Qian Tan said, “I’m asleep.”

Shang Shan said, “You’re lying to me.”

Mu Qian Tan: “Mm.”

Humming sounds came from below the bed, along with muffled thumping as she patted the ground. If she didn’t know who was down there, one might think a puppy had crawled under the bed.

After a quiet moment, Shang Shan started up again. “Master, guess what I’m doing?”

Mu Qian Tan said, “Living.”

Shang Shan said, “I’m thinking about what you just said to me, and I have another question…” She lowered her voice and whispered, “Are we really not fated to be together?”

Of course they were—fated for her to kill her, her to kill Mu Qian Tan, and both meet miserable ends. Mu Qian Tan snorted coldly. “How would I know.”

Shang Shan seemed hesitant. “I hope we are, but I also don’t want it to be.”

The room fell quiet again, with no response from above. The girl rubbed the surface of the spirit pearl in her palm, her heart burning hot and unable to cool, so she continued on her own. “Can’t you be a little nicer to me? I really like you.”

The voice drifted down. “Depends.”

“Then don’t always curse at me from now on. That should be okay, right?” Shang Shan flipped over onto her stomach, rolling the spirit pearl back and forth between her hands, trying to negotiate. “You can hit me if you want—just don’t curse. Your curses are so harsh, but hitting doesn’t hurt much. Maybe because your body’s weak?”

Silence again.

Had she fallen asleep?

Half a head poked out from the edge of the bed. Before Shang Shan could see the situation clearly, a sleeve swept her away. She clutched her face, rolled over a few times, and sprawled out on the ground.

After a while, she rolled back, facing the ceiling, and sighed. “I don’t want much. I just hope you talk to me properly, treat me like a person, value me, praise me, compliment me.”

Mu Qian Tan’s curt response: “Daydreaming.”

“I am not!” Shang Shan argued righteously. “Look outside—it’s nighttime, so I can dream now!”

“…” Mu Qian Tan turned her head and rubbed her temples. “Expecting others to change won’t get you anywhere.”

“Fine, then I’ll change.” Shang Shan accepted quickly, tossing the spirit pearl with one hand and propping her head with the other. “Oh, and I was thinking about something else. I want to get stronger.”

“Master, when you took me out before to look for hands or do demon exorcism and stuff, I always just wanted to play and didn’t train seriously, so that’s why I’m so weak. I couldn’t beat that yellow sparrow and even got you hurt. But I’ve changed now!”

“Next time you take me out, I’ll stick right by your side, learn how to do demon exorcism, how to use spiritual power… I… I don’t want to see you get hurt again. I’ll get stronger.”

Listening to her buzz on endlessly, drowsiness rose again. Mu Qian Tan closed her eyes, her voice slowing. “Whether you get stronger or not is your own business. Don’t say it’s for me, like it becomes my responsibility.”

“Oh, got it! I want to get strong myself, then protect you from getting hurt. That works, right?” Shang Shan pushed up from the floor, stretching out her arm. “Let’s pinky promise. Deal’s a deal. If I don’t manage it later, you can curse me never to grow taller.”

Mu Qian Tan cracked her eyes open a slit and shifted her gaze slightly. She saw a fist extended from the edge of the bed, pinky finger raised and wiggling.

Seeing no reaction, that hand persisted, inching closer and wiggling again.

Mu Qian Tan said, “…Scram, you’re filthy.”

She hadn’t washed up at the Relay Station and had been rolling around on the ground, so she was indeed dirty all over. Shang Shan yanked her hand back with a whoosh, scrambled up, and ran outside. “I’ll go wash.”

She burst through the door into the night, sniffed the air, located the direction with the heaviest water vapor, and dashed straight there.

Pushing aside the bushes, a small stream like a silver ribbon wound through the woods. She hurried to the water’s edge while rapidly stripping off her clothes, jumped in, washed her body clean, and scrubbed her clothes. After wringing out the water, she rushed back.

She found a sturdy branch and hung up her sopping wet clothes to dry. Naked, Shang Shan entered the room, about to say she was clean now, when she noticed the person on the bed with eyes closed and even breathing—she seemed to be asleep.

She shut her mouth, lightened her movements as she closed the door. The old wooden door made only the faintest creak before locking.

Shang Shan tiptoed to the bedside, sat on the floor mat, propped her chin with both hands, and silently watched for a while.

When the woman slept, her face no longer tensed, without that cold expression, appearing more serene and harmless than during the day. Due to her injury, her lips had no color, almost blending with her skin—like white jade piled with snow—and faint purple veins were visible at her neck.

Shang Shan pursed her lips and leaned closer along the scent, sniffing. Amid the thick medicinal fragrance, there was always some indescribable feminine scent mixed in—not strong, faint and elusive. It made one want to chase the source, find it, pin it down, and inhale to one’s fill.

But she could only think about it; she didn’t dare act. She scratched her ear and sprawled at the bed’s edge.

Time to sleep.

After sprawling like that for a bit, drowsiness hit. Shang Shan yawned, planning to sleep. Before doing so, she extended her pinky, carefully hooking the woman’s hand lying flat at her side, sliding to interlock pinkies, and shook it gently.

As if afraid of waking her, she immediately pulled back.

Now she really had to sleep.

She had just bathed in the water, her body still cool and damp, but her chest heated up. This feeling was like…

To find a match, Shang Shan dug into her memories. She recalled once in a stuffy, oppressive carriage, fresh sweet blood sliding from lips and teeth into her stomach, bringing waves of shudderingly delicious bliss. Those scorching crimson eyes’ vivid red liquid was more intoxicating than any golden pill.

She pressed her abdomen, suppressing the intense hunger surging up. To avoid more wild thoughts, Shang Shan decided to sleep, flopping down flat with a thud.

She really, really had to sleep now!

One hand crept quietly up the bed edge again. Two fingers advanced one after the other to the woman’s hand. The fingertips hesitated, hovering close but not touching. Finally, they brushed the woman’s fingernail, then jerked back abruptly.

Haha, she had only touched the fingernail—Master definitely wouldn’t notice or feel it, so no scolding!

Shang Shan chuckled to herself smugly, hugged the Heavenly Eye Spirit Pearl, and slowly drifted into dreams amid that faint scent.

Under the same night sky, in the other Relay Station.

Fu Li had already treated her wounds and taken a bath. With the dirt wiped from her face, she was again that soul-stealing beauty whose looks belied her age. Her pale golden hair practically glowed in the room, her beauty mark exquisitely dainty, accentuating her bewitchingly evil brows and eyes.

A faint contemptuous smile played at her lips as she picked through a pile of new clothes. Either the material was subpar or the color impure—nothing quite satisfied her. With no choice but to wear something, she casually draped one loosely over her shoulder and walked to the outer room.

“Hey, Qin He, we’re all masters, but how is there such a huge gap between Feng Ling Immortal and Yao’e Immortal?”

Qin He sat properly at the table, towel-drying her hair. “Their personalities are just different.”

Fu Li pulled out a chair and sprawled lazily opposite her. “Being Yao’e’s disciple must suck. That Shang girl sure puts up with it.” She rubbed her chin and remarked, “I just noticed—how is there someone surnamed Shang anyway?”